Search results for 'tag:Countable nouns tag:Articles' matching tags 'Countable nouns' and 'Articles'

Re: article before certain nouns

Yoong Liat — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:48:25 GMT

Anonymous
Hi,
I have the noun/word 'correspondence' and it is known by me as an uncountable noun but also, a source has indicated that it is 'a Noun', which could mean it can have the article 'a'. I have seen several cases of this. Does this mean a noun can have an uncountable nature and at the same time have an article before it???

I have this noun 'news' and it is known to me that it only takes 'the' when used to refer to a news program that broadcast news.

1. 'Correspondence' in the sense of mail is an uncountable noun. If the word refers to close similarity or connection between things, it is a countable noun: ...correspondences between Eastern religions and Christianity.

2. "I heard a news that gave today's weather report"? 'News' is uncountable. I have some news for you. .. a piece of news NOT a news

article before certain nouns

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:39:36 GMT

Hi,
I have the noun/word 'correspondence' and it is known by me as an uncountable noun but also, a source has indicated that it is 'a Noun', which could mean it can have the article 'a'. I have seen several cases of this. Does this mean a noun can have an uncountable nature and at the same time have an article before it???

I have this noun 'news' and it is known to me that it only takes 'the' when used to refer to a news program that broadcast news. Does that mean we can't have 'a news' like in "I heard a news that gave today's weather report"?

exploring the use of article in depth

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:55:05 GMT

Hi,
I think a proper name (I think a name is a proper noun) like Joe can take an adjective but attaching some adjectives creates a need for an article and some do not.

good Joe is on the run.
A jubilant/sad Joe is on the run.

See, to me, 'jubilant and sad' create a need for an article, in this being an indefinite one, whereas the use of 'good' has not. I think it is on the nature and semantic meaning of the words involved.

I think I can adorn 'Joe' with an article and an adjective like 'good' if I make a context that exhibits type differentiation like this.

A good Joe is on the run, where as a bad Joe, which is what he used be is resting at home.

I think the same principles? method? can be applied to an uncountable noun like the word 'happiness'.

Low-degree happiness is possible when your life revolves around mundane routines without anything extraordinary.

But if I attach a different adjective with a different feel to it a need for an article is apparent.

An all-consuming happiness is one that doesn't come very often to a normal person, in my opinion.

See, whatever that 'all-consuming' mean in that context, the nature or semantic meaning of the words 'all-consuming' created a need for an article. It can be arisen by contexct, IMO, too like the name.

A happiness I felt when my long dog friend found a mate and bore a puppy.was unlike any happiness I felt until that time.

In summary, I think this method? can be applied to most of the proper names like *** Street and *** Stadium, the ones that normally do not take articles. Am I right?

Re: indefinite article before a gerund

Cool Breeze — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:49:43 GMT

I am not sure if the following answers your question but I'll say it anyway. Some grammarians don't distinguish between verbal nouns (= complete nouns formed from verbs with the ing ending) and gerunds (= words that are neither verbs nor nouns but resemble both to some extent). Some apply the term "gerund" to both of them. Perhaps your confusion arises from that?

A verbal noun really is a noun in that it can assume all the characteristics any countable noun has. This means that it can have an article, an adjectival attribute (or more than just one) and it can occur in the plural:

The correct speaking of English is easy.

His old writings don't interest me.

Perhaps some of the "gerunds" that bother you or arouse your interest belong to this category? Mixing in your post certainly does.

Some verbal nouns have become part and parcel of the language and are included in dictionaries, like "beginning" for example. In some cases you have a choice: a happy end/ending.

Gerunds can't be preceded by an article or an adjectival attribute because they are not full-fledged nouns. They bear some resemblance to verbs: they can take an object:

Speaking English correctly is easy.

Re: creams and detergents

Kooyeen — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:20:00 GMT

I'd say I agree with MrM. My dictionary (Longman) lists those words saying [C or U], which means they can be treated as countable or uncountable nouns, generally speaking. Anyway, even for the uncountable words it doesn't explicitly list as countable too, I think we can say uncountable nouns can often be "categorized" and used with an article. I can't be sure, but I'd say a sentence like this is ok, for example: I've never heard an English like that. = I've never heard a kind of English like that.
By the way, another reason why certain uncountable nouns are often used as countable nouns might be that lots of commercial products are sold in its own container, and uncountable product + container = countable product. A soda. A cream. But this doesn't seem to work for every product, I'm afraid.
Just my opinion.

EDIT: I just read Goodman's post, and I started to think of "waters" to mean two "portions" of water, two bottles, whatever. It seems reasonable, if you think of beers and sodas, but that's exactly the kind of thing I'm not sure about yet. So I searched the net and... I was so lucky! Look, GG says "two waters" at the restaurant, so I guess it's ok to treat it as countable in that context, like other uncountable things.
http://www.englishforums.com/English/SoupEating/clhqn/post.htm

Re: creams and detergents

Goodman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:19:09 GMT

Mr. Miclawer,

I wasnât going to expand this pluralization discussion on âcreamsâ and âwinesâ.
But it really bothered the heck out of me for two reasons.
1) I really wanted to find out if I was really blowing hot air on this subject
because of my misunderstanding of this topic, and 2) if there is another side of the usage
I am not aware of.
This is perhaps not relevant to the discussion but to establish my point, I think it needs
to be said. Mrs. Milton whom I learned English from was an excellent English teacher who
also had taught for 5 years at the Beijing University, which is a top University in China, by
invitation of the Government. Many of her students had landed positions working for the
Chinese Government and the U.N. as translators and interpreters. I was very blessed to be
among her students. Most of my English foundation was learned from her. And I was really
surprised to see your examples pluralizing âcreamâ and âwineâ. By your earlier examples, which I
compared with the information found on the WEB, I must ask this question. Am I to understand
that itâs completely grammatical to say in a restaurant âmay I have 2 waters and soups?â. I know
we hear that all the time but if we are discussing the whether a particular usage is grammatically
correct, running into this type of scenario is inevitable. Here are some âsupportsâ you had
asked for which may not may not be validated to your satisfaction. No doubt, you are the
English authority and perhaps possess âsuperiorityâ over many frequented this forum and I donât
mean to sound like challenging your examples, let alone to waste anymore of your time.
Nonetheless, as a serious learner, Iâd owe the real answers to myself and the learners if I just
accepted your answers as given. I may be wrong with my search result and you are correct.
And If so, here is my âadvanced apologyâ.

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on
his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

http://ajaja.paradoxinc.org/Basic/Grammar/CountAndNoncount.ht

Liquids: beer, milk, coffee, blood, cream, juice, honey, gasoline, oil, shampoo, soup, tea, water, wine.

Solids and semi-solids: Bread, butter, cheese, ice, ice cream, lettuce, toast, meat, beef, chicken, fish, ham, lamb, pork, chalk, 
copper, cotton, glass, gold, iron, , soap, tin, toothpaste, wood, wool,

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/countnon.html

A Revision of the RulesThe exceptions require that the rule for pluralizing be revised: count nouns and nouns used 
in a count sense can be pluralized; noncount nouns and nouns used in a noncount sense cannot.

	Pluralizes with -s	Does not Pluralize
Count Noun	X
Count Use	X
Noncount Noun		X
Noncount Use		X

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Answers (4)

If coffee is an uncountable noun, cream certainly is by common sense. Thus the rule applies.

Â· Answerer 1

Many nouns can be used as countables or uncountables. It depends on whether you are thinking of a substance or
a single serving or object made of the substance. So:

Beer is fattening (uncountable - the substance)
Don't drink more than three beers a day. (Countable - servings)

I love chocolate (uncountable - the substance)
Get me a box of chocolates (countable - individual pieces)

A vase made of blown glass (uncountable - the substance)
A glass of wine (A single piece / artifact)

Coffee gives me indigestion (the substance - uncountable)
I need at least three coffees to wake up on a morning (countable - individual servings)

2 months ago

http://www3.law.cuny.edu/wc/students/multilingual/articles.html

Uncountable nouns often refer to drinks and food, other general substances, or concepts (meat, tea, steel, information, justice):

Examples of Uncountable Nouns in English:

Food and Drink: bacon, beef, beer, bread, butter, cabbage, candy, cauliflower, chicken, chocolate, coffee, corn,
cream, fish, fruit, juice, lettuce, meat, milk, oil, pasta, rice, salt, spinach, sugar, tea, water, whiskey, wine, yogurt.
General Substances: air,cement, clay, coal, copper, dirt, dust, foam, gasoline, gold, ice, leather, paper, petroleum,
plastic, rain, rubber, silver, soap, steel, wood, wool.
Abstract nouns: abandonment, access, adultery, advice, alimony, anger, anguish, arson, authentication, beauty, capacity,
conduct, confidence, courage, deprivation, desperation, discretion, employment, empowerment, evidence, extortion, fortune,
fun, happiness, health, honesty, housing, information, insurance, intelligence, intent, knowledge, land, love, malice, negligence,
poverty, privacy, real estate, sadness, satisfaction, strength, truth, wealth.
Others: biology, clothing, darkness, equipment, furniture, gossip, homework, jewelry, luggage, machinery, mail, money, music,
news, poetry, pollution, research, scenery, traffic, transportation, violence, weather, weight, work.

Some uncountable nouns (except for concepts) can be turned into countable nouns by preposing a phrase to them
(two bottles of wine, a bar of soap, a piece of information, an act of violence, a burst of anger, a piece of evidence).

e.g. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept new evidence in this case.

vs. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept three new pieces of evidence in this case.

Some uncountable nouns can be used in the plural, but their meaning changes:

experience / experiences: e.g., He had to rely on experience / I lived unforgettable experiences

Re: QUOTE AND ARTICLE

Clive — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:01:31 GMT

Hi,
When shoud we include the 'a' here and when not? What do I have to know to make correct choices?

1.As he said, giving is "a central feature of the historical purpose of government."
Could the writer have withheld "a" here?

2.They offer a lot of different activities: a dunk tank, a "bouncy house" (why not "a bouncy house" -- thus, I think 'a' is unnecessary?)
You need an article in both cases, because the words feature and house are singular countable nouns.

If you put the article inside the quotes, you are indicating that the article is part of what was originally said or written. If you put it outside the quotes, you are not indicating that it is part of what was originally said or written.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: majority

Clive — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:42:55 GMT

Hi,
I think I asked this a long time ago and Nona answered something like this.

a majority of discussion -- (to indicate) specific
the majority of discussion -- (to indicate) conceptual

Can you tell me about these more? Off-hand, I just see these as indefinite and definite (a chair/the chair, a group of people/the group of people). So, I'd better let Nona explain what she had in mind.

In what context would you want to use this expression without the article 'the' before the word 'discussion'?

Anyway, let me add this extra comment.
Some people argue that 'majority' should only be used with countable nouns, and prefer 'most of the discussion'.

However, many people do say things like 'a/the majority of the discussion', 'a/the majority of the work', etc.

Best wishes, Clive

Evidence

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:27:35 GMT

Is the word "evidence" a countable or an uncountable noun?

Can I say: "the murder weapon is now an evidence" or should I leave the article "an" out of it?

Re: article

Mr Wordy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:26:23 GMT

These are interesting questions. Here are my non-expert thoughts, but others may have different views.

1. He views prayer as ... It is a working together with God.

To me, "a prayer ... is a working together with God" would be talking about an individual instance of working together (lasting just for that one prayer), while "prayer ... is a working together with God" (as you have here) suggests more an ongoing working relationship. Lots of prayers, lots of working together -- that could be viewed as a series of acts of working together (one per prayer), but is more likely just a general persistent state that is topped up by prayers but doesn't stop and start with each prayer.

2. A "good morning" in the morning can lift one's spirit up.

Yes, the article "a" means "an instance of", but it's ambiguous whether it's an instance of saying or of hearing.

3. He offers them ... nourishment for soul and body.

Not all countable nouns can be turned into uncountable nouns. The ones that can generally become abstracted from an individual instance (countable) to a general concept (uncountable), as in "we're fighting an injustice" versus "we're fighting injustice". I suppose it's just about possible for the words "body" and "soul" to be individually abstracted to uncountable nouns ("nourishment for body"), but this is fairly rare, and to me risks looking like a typo or grammatical error.

The case of "body and soul" is different: "body and soul" acts as a single unit, and that's the uncountable noun. Think of it as "bodyandsoul" (though obviously it's never written like that). So, "body and soul" is a kind of abstraction of an individual body and its accompanying soul to the general concept. Confusingly, though, this abstraction can still refer to a single body/soul (as well as to bodies/souls in general), as in "I eat simply but I keep body and soul together" (rather than "my body and soul together"). My guess is that this is a sort of "distancing" that removes the need to contemplate an individual physical body and the possible actual existence of a soul.

4. Mother and daughter had come to the big city.

This use is IMO fine in all types of writing, but to me it tends to personalise the individuals -- put us "closer" to them, if you like -- which might be inappropriate in some contexts. The roles are clearly being noted, but that by itself doesn't seem to explain the lack of articles. Neither does it seem to be in any sense an abstraction of the concept of mother and daughter. My guess is that grammatically "mother" and "daughter" substitute for the people's names (which obviously would not need articles).

Search results for 'tag:Countable nouns tag:Articles' matching tags 'Countable nouns' and 'Articles'

Re: article before certain nouns

article before certain nouns

exploring the use of article in depth

Re: indefinite article before a gerund

Re: creams and detergents

Re: creams and detergents

Mr. Miclawer,

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

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Answers (4)

Re: QUOTE AND ARTICLE

Re: majority

Evidence

Re: article

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on
his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages